Avoiding Modding Section data loss: GTAForums own image uploader

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user posted image

 

GTAForums greatest projects are lost forever. So are their development pictures. Some map mods never saw the light of the day, and also their pictures are lost forever. In most grave cases, Tutorials section has old and relevant tutorials that no more has pictures of how to do stuff, because it aged and the imgur, photobucket and another 3rd part image uploaders simply erased the pictures. Information lost. Forever.

 

There is no more solution to that pictures of map mods, tutorials and whatsoever lost forever: Half of GTAF history was gone if you think about it. But there are still a solution to prevent this on future: An option to GTAForums host its own images.

 

Could work by a simply drag-and-drop onto the topic and the picture got uploaded together with it when you hit "Post New Topic" button. Easier than the actual method, where you have to upload to imgur and then later on copy the link, click on the link button , and for each image you have to paste the url. That also on imagebucket or whatever.

 

Idk if some of you guys actually tried to mount an decent tutorial and mod showcase topic where you have to show the step by step of how to do a 3d model, but i can tell you with ease: it is PAIN. I suppose it is for that reason the Tutorials topic is so empty. Even with tools like Greenshot or Screenpresso, that eases your job a little bit, it is still very laboring and painful task to do to upload EVERY SINGLE IMAGE that way. Instead i just could drag-and drop it on my topic. Aw, the image is too big? i just crop it on Photoshop, save it and drag into the topic. I dont have to UPLOAD IT ALL OVER AGAIN just to adjust some pixels.

 

Anyway, thats it. Please take it as an constructive advice and less as a critic. I imagine how hard it is to do and manage a server so big. But try to do that, you would see a better traffic of tutorials, mod development pictures would not die like it died, and GTAF history, key development pictures and you-imagine-what would be here

 

[DOUGL4S1]

I think Imgur will stay as long as Reddit is around, so that's not much of a problem. As for the uploader, I think it would not only need a lot of programming to work, but it would take a LOT of space on the forum's host, with users posting their 4K screenshots and stuff, and I can't imagine that being cheap. As for future updates, I think the staff is being much more careful to prevent all images from suddenly disappearing, or breaking any other code.

Edited April 20, 2018 by DOUGL4S1